French spirits Group Pernod Ricard said it is in for the long haul in Africa. The world’s no. 2 spirits company sees huge opportunities on the continent and has been making investments to bolster its presence.

In a recent interview, the CEO of Pernod Ricard, Alexander Ricard said that the group has opened six offices in sub-Saharan Africa in the last six or seven years.

“We’ve opened seven markets in sub-Saharan Africa in the last six or seven years. Historically, we’d only been present in South Africa since 1993. Now we operate in Namibia, Angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and more recently in Mozambique.”

The maker of Jameson Irish and whisky and Absolut vodka said it foresees Africa reaching the level of growth seen in Asia in 15 to 20 years as its population and economy grows.

“We have a clear vision – Africa is Asia in 15 to 20 years from today. That’s because of demographics, urbanization rates and economic growth. Our business has been growing consistently in the region over the last six or seven years,” said Alexander Ricard.

While current growth engines in emerging markets for the spirits maker are presently in China, India and Eastern Europe, particularly Russia, it is investing in other emerging markets particularly Sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, Mexico and some South-East Asian markets. It sees these countries and region as a long term play.

“This allows us to drive top-line momentum today while thinking of top-line momentum tomorrow,” the CEO said.